Justice News

Rogers Man Sentencing For Operating An Illegal Gambling Business

Fayetteville, AR – Duane (DAK) Kees, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Robert Rogers, age 73, of Rogers, Arkansas, was sentenced today to three years probation with the first 18 months to be served as home confinement and ordered to pay $250,000.00 in fines for Operating an Illegal Gambling Business. The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.

According to court records, beginning in 2016, special agents from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began an investigating a large scale gambling operation that was being run by Rogers from his Rogers, Arkansas residence.

During the investigation, federal agents discovered that Rogers directed a gambling operation that consisted mainly of taking bets on college and professional football and basketball games based on point spreads all in violation of Arkansas law. Records show that Rogers operated the gambling operation for at least 15 consecutive years and had a gross revenue of at least $70,000.00-$80,000.00 per year.

On February 8, 2017, agents from the IRS and FBI executed a search warrant on Rogers’s residence where they discovered additional evidence of his illegal gambling operation.

Rogers was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2017 and entered a guilty plea in January 2018.

The investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Denis Dean prosecuted the case for the United States.